Teaser

Native Affairs will screen this video on Maori Television, tonight 8pm (29/09/2014).

 

Ubud 2014

Ka mau te wehi! I have been lucky enough to be invited to appear at the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival this year alongside a talented group of NZ authors and artists, especially acclaimed Maori author Patricia Grace! More information about the festival, its origins and purpose can be found here. This is an amazing opportunity to meet creative people and take part in a significant festival in a part of the world I have never visited! My brother, Tama Waipara, will also be participating, the festival will be timely given we are collaborating on a creative project which I hope to be able to debut soon, as well as reflect on the working process behind it in an upcoming post. He mihi mahana (many thanks) to the NZ Embassy Jakarta for sponsoring our inclusion in the event. 

I will be speaking on a panel alongside some really well respected authors/illustrators Mem Fox, Alison Lester, and Briony Stewart (their books are sitting in my daughter's bookshelf!) about the various creative conundrums that one may face when working in the medium of children’s books. More information about my role and participation can be found here. I will also be running an illustration workshop based on character creation where inspiration will be drawn from cultural heritage and mythology. My personal work draws on my own Maori heritage, viewed somewhat through a contemporary lens. The idea of the workshop arose out of this interest and is an outgrowth of my recently completed Masters research project. My transmedia story, Otea, is a new creation born from traditional Maori mythology. 

Robert McKee, in Story: Substance, structure, style and the principles of screenwriting (1999), wrote “the archetypal story unearths a universally human experience, then wraps itself inside a unique, culture specific expression.” (I attended a film/screenwriting workshop of McKee's in 2004 at Auckland University). Put simply, a story should be universal in appeal but culturally specific. This sums up my own approach to my work, and my appreciation of many other stories from around the world. The Studio Ghibli films show aspects of Japan’s cultural specificity, some more overt than others, and are born from an authentic worldview. I first saw Princess Mononoke in 2000 at the New Zealand Film Festival, described by one reviewer as “as a landmark of the genre.” The character of Prince Ashitaka is thought to be based on an indigenous group (the Emishi) who once lived in northern Japan. Spirited Away also contains strong cultural references, with aspects of fairytale and mythic rules throughout. Many of these elements are drawn from Shinto religious practices including a belief in animism – something shared by many indigenous cultures which aligns quite naturally alongside my own understandings of Maori stories. At the Survive and Thrive 2013 conference hosted at AUT, I attended a presentation by Keiko Bang, in which she expressed her view that “New Zealand's spirituality resonates strongly with spirituality across Asia.” In rereading Maori legends, I see certain recurring themes prevalent in other cultural tales such as redemption myths via spiritual pilgrimages, reminiscent of the Chinese tale Journey to the West. In Secret of Kells, a beautifully stylistic animated film that references Celtic culture, history and art, the newer Christianised world sits alongside the older pagan one. 

Such works convinced me that my own project Otea: Rock of Ages, born from a lifelong fascination with Maori myths and legends, held some promise as a story project and indeed value as an entry point into exploring the larger world of te ao Maori (the Maori world). 

Sketches and some finished artwork. © Copyright 2014 Zak Waipara

In this example of sketches (above) showing the character design and development of my adaption of the fearsome Kurangaituku (the birdwoman is a famous character from Maori legend), inspiration has come from te taiao (the natural world), in that the plumage and colouring was styled on the New Zealand Wood Pigeon or Kereru (sometimes referred to as Rupe in traditional myths – the form that Maui could change into by way of magic). This lends the character some grace, beauty, as well as physical strength. Her plumage has also been designed to create a feathered costume (and likely takes some inspiration from superhero attire). 

The workshop is intended to explore exactly this approach, encouraging all creators to examine their own cultural heritage, and use self‐exploration of identity as one possible creative pathway, to develop their personal artistic voice. I say one possible pathway, as artists/authors are multifaceted and don't like to be pigeonholed (no pun intended), but this avenue has proved to be personally fulfilling, and results in honest and authentic work.